Afterglow
by Microsuede Mouse
Summary: Mike and Julie are laying together in bed when he says something that seems to just open the floodgates: she can't keep her secret any more, not from him. / Jukebox, oneshot.


Hi I just really wanted to write this idea once it occurred to me so hah here you go. Enjoy, reviews would be suuuuuper

ps, rated for implied sexytimes

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"Wow," Mike sighed, wrapping an arm around Julie's shoulders and trying to catch his breath. He smiled dazedly and pulled the sheets up a bit further around them.

She chuckled softly, snuggling up closer to his side and laying her head on his chest. "That was amazing," she agreed.

He looked down at her. "_You're_ amazing."

Julie's fingers traced lazy shapes across his chest, brushing as lightly as she could manage and drawing tiny laughs from Mike when she hit the sensitive spots where his skin flinched away just a bit. After a few moments he caught her hand in his own and laced his huge fingers into her much smaller ones. She looked up at his face, and they shared a tender smile.

"I love you," he said earnestly.

Julie bit her lip, trying not to let the immense grin break across her face. He always said it first, and there was no mistaking that he meant it. Whole-heartedly. She was scared to say it back most of the time – would he always feel that way? Through everything? But she always did. It was hard to lie to someone as genuine as Mike – she would know – and besides, she felt the same way. She couldn't deny that. "I love you too," she breathed.

The look on his face was incredible. It was like every time she admitted she loved him, all he knew was utter bliss. No one had ever looked at her that way, not even Kane. She knew that wasn't the same, but – Mike cared about her. He cared about her more than anything.

"I…" he stopped for a moment, glancing away. His smile said he felt silly, and she couldn't help laughing slightly.

"What is it?" she asked him, squeezing his hand.

He looked back at her. "I've been thinking… I really want you to move into the garage with us. I know your internship is important, but Kane just gets more dangerous by the day, and you'd be so much safer here…"

Julie gave a tiny sigh and rested her face against his shoulder once again, her dark red hair splaying all around her on his chest and on the rumpled sheets. It was so much more complicated than that, but maybe… maybe for a moment, she could indulge him. "I admit, it would be nice."

"You could have your own room," he suggested hopefully. "We could make space for you."

She grinned to herself. "What if I wanted to share yours?"

She heard his heart speed up in his chest. "You could do that too," he agreed, sounding a bit too happy. She stole a glance at his face and saw that goofy grin of his, the one he wore when he got something far better than what he'd been hoping for. It was the same one she'd seen the first time she kissed him.

Laughing softly, she moved for a moment to kiss his bare skin. "You sure I wouldn't be getting too much in your space?"

Mike released her hand and brought his fingers up gently beneath her chin, pulling her to look into his face. "Not at all," he told her. "I have nothing to hide from you."

The sincerity in his statement caught her by surprise, and she suddenly couldn't take her gaze away from his. His smile became a look of concern as he watched her own smile fade.

"Jules, what's wrong?" he asked. "Was it something I said?"

"Um," she managed. She swallowed. "No, Mike, it's just…"

He licked his lips and watched her for a long moment before gently pulling her up in the bed to rest on the pillow next to him, so that he could see her face properly. She averted her eyes, looking sad, and he reached up and brushed her hair behind her ear.

"Julie, you can tell me anything," he said quietly.

"I know," she murmured, still not meeting his eye.

One hand resting against her cheek, threaded through her hair, Mike tugged her head forward for a moment so that he could kiss her forehead. Leaning away to look at her again, arms wrapped comfortingly around her naked form, he sighed. "Please? You don't have to, but this is obviously something that upsets you. I want to help, even if only by listening. You don't have to carry anything alone, Jules, that's why I'm here."

Finally she met his eyes again. "I just… I _have_ been hiding something from _you_."

"Tell me," he encouraged her. "I promise not to be mad."

"I don't think you realize how big this is," she answered.

"I promise," he insisted. "Jules, nothing can make me love you any less. Please tell me."

Julie swallowed again, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. For a moment she wondered what she was doing, and she savoured what could be the last time he ever held her that way. Opening her eyes again, forcing herself to look at him, she began to speak.

"Remember how surprised you were at how much Kane seemed to care about me?" she asked quietly.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't really figure that one out."

Julie bit her lip, hard. "It's… I'm his daughter."

He was blank for just a moment, then frowned. "You… I mean, he was like a father figure to me, and he said himself I was like a son to him, but…"

She shook her head, eyes wet with tears that threatened to spill onto her face. "No, I mean, I'm actually his daughter. My name is Julie Kane. Most people don't know, even in Deluxe. Claire does, and Tooley… maybe a couple of others. Sometimes I think Jacob has his suspicions."

Mike stared at her, his face slowly registering shock, then shifting into sadness. She was surprised not to see hurt, betrayal, anger, but she knew they would come. She shut her eyes again, unable to bear even the thought of how much he would hate her now.

Unexpectedly, he wrapped his arms even more snugly around her and pulled her close against his body. She'd been pressed just as tight against him not long before, but this time it was about comfort, not adrenaline. All the same, she gasped, taken aback by his actions. He buried his face in the crook of her shoulder, holding her as near as he could. Tears finally breaking onto her cheeks, Julie leaned into his shoulder as well and began to weep against his skin. She gripped at him desperately, her tiny hands sticking to his still-sweaty back.

"Julie, I'm sorry," he breathed. "I'm so sorry."

She swallowed hard and tried to find her voice. "Why are you apologizing?" she asked him.

"I should have known," he said. "It makes so much sense, I should've worked it out long ago. I'm sorry I was too dense to see it. And I'm sorry you have to deal with this. It was hard for me to turn my back on him, but it must be so much harder for you. I'm so sorry."

She clung to him desperately, hoping against hope that he wasn't going to suddenly change his mind.

"But more than that, I'm sorry I ever made you feel like you couldn't tell me. I wanted you to be able to trust me with anything, but I failed. I'm sorry, Jules, I'm so sorry."

"Mike, this isn't your fault," she told him, snuffling and trying to hold back the sobs. "I'm sorry I lied to you. There's nothing I'd like more in the entire world than to live in the garage with you here, but I just can't."

He loosened his grip on her just enough to pull back and look her in the eye. "It's okay. Shh, it's okay," he told her, and she could see that his own eyes were damp as well.

Julie clutched at his shoulder blades, trying to get herself under control. "I'm sorry. Please don't… please don't…" she couldn't even finish her sentence, but he seemed to know what she meant.

"I'm not going to leave you, Jules," Mike promised. "Never, not ever."

She paused, taking a deep, careful breath. "Mike, I love you. I love you so much."

Despite the concern still in his eyes, that goofy smile broke across his face again. He put his face in close to hers and smiled into her eyes. "You've never said that first before," he told her quietly.

Laughter broke through her waning tears. "There's a first time for everything," she answered.

He let himself laugh as well. "I love you too," he said, closing the little space between them to kiss her again. "And that's not going to change."

She kissed him back, flooded with love and relief and the entirely different adrenaline rush that came with confessing her secret only to be met with so much more understanding than she had dared to hope for. He held her tightly and deepened the kiss, trying to somehow prove to her that nothing had changed.

Finally they separated for a moment and smiled at each other. "Not your typical pillow talk, I guess, huh?" Mike teased.

Julie laughed and pecked his chin. "Maybe not," she admitted.

"We could try again," he suggested, wagging his eyebrows. Then, without warning, he scooped her close again and rolled over top of her, making her squeak with surprised laughter as he began planting kisses on her neck.


End file.
